If we don't engage young people..then frankly the project is unsustainable

A material difference may be observed in the games of antiquity: the most eminent of the Greeks were actors, the Romans were merely spectators.

The Olympic stadium was open to wealth, merit, and ambition; and if the candidates could depend on their personal skill and activity, they might pursue the footsteps of Diomede and Menelaus, and conduct their own horses in the rapid career.

DELAYS in cleaning up the heavily contaminated land on which the London Olympic Park will be built led to the resignation of the 2012 Games construction chief, The Times has learnt.

Mr Lemley, 71, insisted that his health was not connected to his resignation but he was “very, very concerned” about the extent of toxic material and hazardous waste on the 757-acre site, much of which was industrial land. The clean-up operation could also unearth unexploded bombs dropped during the Blitz. The American engineer was increasingly frustrated that the process of cleaning the land — known as remediation — had not begun, although contractors had been appointed to carry out the task in June.

Jack Lemley, who was chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), claims that in the 15 months since London won the Games, no remediation work has begun on the 757-acre site in east London.

Marc Hodler, the senior Swiss member of the International Olympic Committee, who in 1998 exposed widespread bribe-taking among the Olympic delegates who decided where the Games would take place, died Wednesday in Bern, Switzerland. He was 87.

London's Olympic project suffered a serious setback yesterday with the sudden resignation of the American building chief recruited to ensure the project was delivered on time and on budget.

London needs a 30-year overhaul of the rail system, less regulation and a surge in Asian investment to ensure its economic future, Mayor Ken Livingstone said.

AFTER they leave the arena, life is a trip back down for most sportsmen. The greater the peaks of achievement, the more humdrum the future.